In a typical cellular radio communication system, an area is divided geographically into a number of wireless coverage areas such as cells and sectors, each defined by a radiation pattern from one or more base station antennae of an access network. As an access terminal moves between coverage areas of the access network, when network conditions change, or for other reasons, the access terminal may switch from receiving service in one coverage area to receiving service in another coverage area. In a usual case, this switching process is triggered by the access terminal monitoring the signal conditions in various available coverage areas of the access network, and the access terminal and/or the access network determining when one or more threshold criteria are met.
In one typical example, the access terminal may monitor signal strength in various available coverage areas and then decide to switch to a new coverage area when the new coverage area has a signal strength that is sufficiently higher than the coverage area in which the access terminal is currently requesting service. The access terminal may then notify the access network of its decision to switch coverage areas. In turn, the access network may carry out the access terminal's decision to switch coverage areas by ending service of the access terminal in the current coverage area and beginning service of the access terminal in the new coverage area. While this arrangement generally works well to facilitate seamless service of the access terminal as it moves between wireless coverage areas, delays may occur during the switching process, impacting throughput. One factor that may contribute to this delay is an access terminal's inability to switch to the new coverage area while the access terminal is still receiving data in the current coverage area. Accordingly, a more efficient process for an access terminal to switch between coverage areas is desired.